Don't get fooled by these fake news sites

Thedcgazette.com

Ahead of the 2016 election, fake news stories about the race often out-performed real ones.

In the election’s wake, there has been a debate over whether fake stories, such as the “Dc Gazette” headline above, could have influenced votes at a time when 62 percent of U.S. adults get their news from social media sites, according to the Pew Research Center.

Here are some other fake news sites to watch out for. Have you been duped by any of them?

Credit: Thedcgazette.com

70news.wordpress.com

The day after the election, the most popular Google search result about the popular vote came from 70news.wordpress.com. The site said Trump had won the popular vote by 700,000 votes. He had not.

The egregious error spurred Merrimack College communications professor Melissa Zimdars to compile a list of fake news sites. She told CBS News she wanted to “help my students navigate an increasingly complex and questionable media landscape.”

Many of the sites here appear on Zimdars’ list.

Credit: 70news.wordpress.com

Abcnews.com.co

The logo for this site is strikingly similar to that of the real ABC News.

The site published a story before the election with the (false) headline: “Donald Trump Protester Speaks Out: ‘I Was Paid $3,500 To Protest Trump’s Rally.’”

Credit: abcnews.com.co

Infowars.com

The site is connected to Alex Jones, a radio host and conspiracy theorist who has alleged the Sandy Hook school shooting was a hoax.

Credit: Infowars.com

Yournewswire.com

Before the election, Yournewswire.com published a story saying First Lady Michelle Obama had unfollowed Clinton on Twitter. A quick check of Twitter proved the story false.

Rilenews.com

Worldnewsreport.com

“WNDR shall not be responsible for any incorrect or inaccurate information,” says a disclaimer on Worldnewsreport.com, but the site’s tagline is: “News you can trust!”

Credit: Worldnewsreport.com

Empirenews.net

A disclaimer on the site reads: “Our website and social media content uses only fictional names, except in cases of public figures and celebrity parody or satirization.”

Credit: Empirenews.net

Politicops.com

The site called Newslo, located at Politicops.com, says it is the “first hybrid news/satire platform on the web.” That has become confusing for some readers.

Credit: Politicops.com

Huzlers.com

Huzlers.com admits the news is satire. But stories from the site that appear on social media might deceive casual readers.

Credit: Huzlers.com

Thebostontribune.com

The Boston Tribune sounds like the name of a real newspaper, but it has run stories that have been proven false.

Credit: Thebostontribune.com

Christiantimes.com

Before the election, the Christian Times Newspaper published an article alleging that “tens of thousands” of ballots pre-marked for Hillary Clinton had been found in a warehouse in Ohio. They had not.

Credit: http://www.christiantimes.com/

Now8news.com

“Now8News.com is on the look for top stories in your area and across the world,” the “About” section of the site says, without clarifying that it is satire.

Credit: Now8news.com

Empireherald.com

Empireherald.com is satire, but you won’t find that information on the site.

Credit: Empireherald.com

Burrardstreetjournal.com

Burrardstreetjournal.com ran this erroneous pre-election headline: “Obama Declares His Family Will Move To Canada If Trump Is Elected.”

Credit: Burrardstreetjournal.com

React365.com

React365.com allows people to make posts with a fake headline and description to post to social media sites. Social media users should be wary not only of individual sites, but also of headlines that show up in their feeds, no matter how legitimate they look.

Credit: React365.com

Theonion.com

“The Onion” is considered the most popular satire news site on the internet, but international and national audiences have been fooled into thinking some of their stories are real. The Onion’s ironic tagline is: “America’s finest news source.”

Credit: Theonion.com

Civictribune.com

Civictribune.com is a satire site, but the tagline reads: “Dedicated To The Truth.”

Credit: Civictribune.com

Realnewsrightnow.com

Nowhere on this site’s “About” page does it say the stories are satire. They are.

Credit: Realnewsrightnow.com

Nationalreport.net

A disclaimer on the site reads: “All news articles contained within National Report are fiction, and presumably fake news.”

Credit: Nationalreport.net

Ifyouonlynews.com

“We’ll keep you up-to-date and entertained,” the site boasts. However, headlines have been debunked as completely fake.